Wrapper or label for toilet packages



Jan. 11, 193 8. D. PARSONS 2,105,367

WRAPPER OR LABEL FOR TOILET PACKAGES Filed Aug. 29, 1933 Patented Jan. 11. 1938 arms on LABEL roa TOILET PACKAGES Philip 1). Parsons, Swarthmore, Pa, assignor to Scott Paper Company, Chester, Pa, a corporation of Pennsylvania Application August 29, 1933, Serial No. -687,355

teristics facilitating removal of the wrapper or label from the package.

Considerable time and effort have been spent in the production of a toilet package of the character set forth, which while firmly bound in the package may be readily opened. Commonly, wrappers or labels are employed to bind the package, and the removal of these wrappers or labels under normal conditions presents considerable I difiiculty and is a recognized annoyance.

Various devices have been proposed to facilitate the opening of such packages and the removal of the binding wrappers or labels, and

25 while some of these have been effective, they have proved commercially impractical by reason of their relative complexity and the fact that they increase the cost of production of the individual package to an unreasonable extent.

30 My present invention contemplates the provision of a wrapper or label so formed asto possess, inherently, characteristics rendering its removal from the package to which it has been applied an extremely'simple matter, and. the afore- 35 said construction is such as in no way to complicate the manufacture of or increase the cost of production of the wrappers or labels.

In the attached drawing:

, Figure 1 shows awrapper or label made in acacross the face of the wrapper or label, the ar- 4 40 cordance with my invention, and Fig. 2 shows a package including the wrappe or label which has been partially removed.

It is recognized thatpaper as manufactured in accordance with the commonly used methods ex- 45 hibits a distinct grain which while not necessarily apparent nevertheless has a material effect upon the physical characteristics of the product. Thus where it is practically impossible to tear the paper along a straight line across the grain, there is 50 in efi'ect a natural line of cleavage in the'other direction or with the grain which will induce or urge the paper to be tornwith a high degree of accuracy. I have discovered that if elongated .wrappersor labels of the'character involved in 55 the present invention are so formed that the grain of the paper runs across the narrow dimension of the wrapper or label instead of lengthwise'thereof, that the wrapper or label is afforded two important physical. characteristics not foun in the labels of the prior art.

First, a wrapper or label formed in accordance with the preferred embodiment of my invention may be readily removed from the package to which it has been applied by tearing a strip of paper from the wrapper or label from one exposed edge'to the other and in a direction substantially parallel to the grain. Preferably and as illustrated in the drawing, I define the strip by a pair of notches or clefts i in one longitudinal edge of the wrapper or label spaced apart from each other an extent corresponding to the width of the strip desired. A strip of approximately in width has been found suitable for the purpose. The notches i, as will be apparent, provide between them and at the edge of the wrapper or label a tab-2 which may be readily gripped by the fingers in initiating the tearing operation. As

a guide to the mode of operation required to remove the wrapper or label in accordance with the invention, I may, if desired and as illustrated, 5

define the opposite edges of the strip by printed marks, although this is not essential to a working of the invention, and it is to be noted particularly that the invention avoids all necessity for scoring the wrapper label in order to provide artificial lines-of cleavage. The transverse grain of the paper from which the wrapper or label is made is sufficiently pronounced to define substantially transverse lines of cleavage which induce or urge a substantially transverse tear in the wrapper or label when one longitudinal edge thereof is ruptured and pulled to remove .the wrapper or label from the package. In operation, the, tab 2 is gripped by the fingers and is pulled downwardly rangement of grain insuring a substantially parallel tearing of the wrapper or label completely across the latter and substantially transversely thereof from the bottoms of the notches l, which results in the removal of a substantially uniformly wide strip and releases the wrapper or label from the package.

- Another desirable characteristic of a wrapper or label made in accordance with my invention resides in the fact that the aforesaid arrangement verselyl This transverse curling of the wrappers or labels interferesvmaterially with the handling of the wrappers or labels in the machine, and is a.

entirely avoided in a wrapper or label having the transverse grain. Further, the complete absence of transverse slits, perforations. or trans verse rip strips, rip cords, or the like, permits the wrappers or labels to be superp'osed to provide a perfectly flat and uniform pack, such a pack being essential to the practical operation of con= ventional wrapping and/or labeling machines,

It will be noted that the advantageous results afiorded by-my invention are obtained in a manner in no way affecting the cost either of producing the wrappers or labels or of attaching the wrappers or labels to the package. While the tab 2 formed between the spaced notches l and l on one edge of the strip may be considered as the preferred embodiment of my invention, it. is to I unsealed edge. Hence, the wrapper or label of my be understood that other forms 01 tab-like grasping means may be employed to initially rupture and subsequently tear the wrapper or label. While I have elected to illustrate and describe the wrapper or label as being of elongated form withthe grain disposed substantially transverse to the or other packagewith two opposed edges of the wrapper or label overlapping and secured to each other, and in which the sufficiently-prono'unced grain of the paper extends ina directionefrom one unsealed edge toward the opposite invention is not restricted to use with toilet paper rolls, but can be used for wrapping and/or labeling relatively long rolls or packages, such, for

. example, as paper 'towelling and the like, in which case the pronounced grain would extend substantially parallel to the length of the wrapper or label but in a direction substantially parallel to theaxis of the roll or package. I claim:

1. A wrapper or label to be applied to a rolllike package and having two opposite edges overlapping and sealed to each other to bind the wrapper or label on the package, said wrapper or label being made of paper having its grain extending substantially parallel to the axis of said package, said grain being suificiently' pronounced to induce a tear in a direction substantially parallel to the axis of said package when one of the -unsealed edges of said wrapper is ruptured and pulled, and said unsealedredge being provided with a tab-like grasping and pulling means.

2. A wrapper or label to be applied to a rolllike package and having two opposite edges over lapping and sealedto each other to bind the,

wrapper or label on the package'said'wrapper or label being made of paper having its grain extending substantially parallel to'the axis of said package, said. grain being s'ufliciently pronounced to induce a tear in a direction substantially parallel to the axis of said-package when one of the unsealed edges of'said wrapper is ruptured and pulled, and means -for initiating a tear attwo adjacent points in the gsaid unsealed edge to thereby permit disruption of the wrapper by removal. therefrom of a narrow strip of the paper material in the direction of the grain. PHILIP D. PARSONS. 

